Hardik Pandya thanks his fans after making a comeback on the field

Hardik returned to the field for the first time in four months.

Published - 28 Jan 2019, 17:27 IST | Updated - 28 Jan 2019, 17:27 IST

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India sealed the ODI series against New Zealand in the first three matches itself. They won the third game by seven wickets and though the Kiwis improved their overall performance, it wasn’t even enough to compete with the Men in Blue. The fact that their already strong bowling got a massive boost due to Hardik Pandya’s return worked in India’s favour and they skittled the home side on 243.

Hardik, on his comeback, made an immediate impact by grabbing an excellent catch to send back Kane Williamson in the 17th over. A sensational fielding effort rubbed on his bowling as well and it never felt like the all-rounder was away from the game from last four months. Eventually, he returned with the figures of 2/45 from his 10-over spell.

Pandya tweets

Hardik Pandya was praised by his skipper Virat Kohli also and conceded that his presence gives an amazing balance to the team. During the suspension period though, Hardik seems to have realised the hard yards of the life and didn’t do anything out of the ordinary in his celebrations as well.

Even Kohli stressed the importance of respecting the game while speaking about Hardik’s return to the highest level. He hoped that the all-rounder comes out as a better cricketer after the controversial incident which ruined his start of 2019. Hardik Pandya would be itching now to continue performing in the same vein for the rest of the tour. He will also be looking forward to batting in the coming games.

Despite going through a lot of criticism, Hardik was a centre of attraction today and was praised by the fans for letting his performance do the talking. Many hailed him for the superb catch and his bowling which never let the opponent up the ante. He was thankful to everyone after the game and expressed himself on Twitter about the same.